Combined body and chassis structure



Oct. 1 1940.

J. LEDWINKA COMBINED BODY AND CHASSIS STRUCTURE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 50, 1937 INVENTOR. Joseph Ledwp' A TTORNE Y.

Oct. 1, 1940/ J. LEDWINKA COMBINED BODY AND CHASSIS STRUCTURE Filed NOV. 50, 1937' 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 I N VEN TOR.

f05eph Ledw CO N'BINED BODY AND CHASSIS STRUC"1URE Filed Nov. :50, 1957 s Sheets-Sheet s 2 INVENTOR.

- fiseph ledwinh'a/ BYVAJW ATTORNEY.

Patented Oct. 1, 1940 STATE-S- Philadelphia, vania einvention relates to the construction of veliicle 1 bodies especially of motor car bodies. The -invention relates more particularly to that kind of body forming simultaneously the chassis etru ture ..,It is-an object of the inventionto simplify the constructionandthe manufacture of such combined body. and chassis structures, to give to the s ucturethe necessary strength and to reduce the cost.

This object is mainly obtained by the invention. by forming. box section'side sills partly from me, bod-y side 'wall and the body flooring, and,

partlyfromthe sidewall and separate reinforc- Qther-andfurther objects and advantages of lthef'invention and, the manner inwhich they are attained will. become apparent from the following detailed'Idescription in connection with the 'drawingsforming a part thereof. Inthe drawings: 1

Fig. 1 represents in side elevation a sedan type of combinedbody and chassis structure in accordance' with the invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan'vie'w of the combined chassis and .body underframe structure and a section through theyertical body walls taken substan .tiallyalon the line 2 2 of Fig. 1.-

P5 Figs. 3 to 9 inclusive. are detailed sectional ;viev'vs through the longitudinal side sill members landthe'adjacent parts taken substantially along ,the correspondinglynumbered lines of Fig. 1.

10 1is an enlarged detailed inside view of ithe Ione side-sill structure and adjacent, parts in the A-posts and toe-board region.

' The body shown in the drawings comprises side wall members designated generally by. the nujmerall l; each' of these side wall members extendingfrom the extreme rear to the extreme front of the combinedstructure may be formed from one unitary stamping. These side members :11] surround .the door and window openings 12, "1,3, and comprisethe wheel housings l4 and I5. inwardly directed flange I6 is bent off from the-lower margin of'the side wall members i l. A' separate reinforcing member I! forming in cross section an outwardly and downwardly open- ,ing' angle is shaped to conformwith the lower marginof the forward end of each side wall member. I

Themembersgl-l extend from the forward end COMBINED BODYAND CHASSIS STRUCTURE Joseph Ledwinka, Philadelphia, Pa., ass'ig'nor to Edward G. Budd -Manufacturing Company,

Pa., a corporation of Pennsylk 2,215,12 PATIENT OFFICE 1 Application November so, 1937, Serial e. 177,221 6 Claims; (01. 96 28) of thecornbined body and chassis structure rearwardly to the A-post region. The arms l8 and l9 of the member I! are provided with laterally bent oflfflanges" 20 and 2| respectively and are fastened'preferably by spotv welding these flanges to thevertical wall l4 of ..the frontwheel housing and the lower marginal flange 16 of the side wall member respectively. In the region between the front wheelhousing l4 and the A-post, the arm l8- of the member "and its flange 20 are spaced inwardly from the main body of the side wall member I I, as shown in Fig. 5.

The sidewall members II are additionallyreinforced in the cowl region and in the region of the door posts by. inner stampings 22, 23 and 243 The stamping. 22 is fastened through a lateral flange 25 to the crown of, the one Wheel housing l4 and to the arm l8 and the flange20 of the member ll, seeFigs. 2, 4, and 10.

The forward ends. of the two side wall membersl l and theirreinforcing member I! are connected with each other by cross braces 25, 21 and 28. These. cross members may be box shaped in cross section and may serveas supports for the power plant. v p I The sheet metal flooring designated generally by the numeral 29 extends from the cowl region to the rear of the-combined structure. v The entire flooring may be stamped from one unitary sheet metal plate. 29 is bent, upwardly so as to form' the toe-board 30, the lateral margins. of the toe-board30 are connected by "means of intermediatestrips 3| to the inner side .wall members 22 and form thereby an additional cross bracing in the cowl region. I

Along the lateral margins of the flooring 29, flanges 32 and. 33 are bent off which form togetheran outwardly andv downwardly opening angle sectionjsill The main body of the flooring 29 is fastened as by .spot welding to the inwardly directed flange N5 of the side wall stamping ll whereas the outwardly directed arm 33 of the flooring isfastened to a vertical part of the side wall member H, by means of an upwardly bent off marginal flange 34.0fosaid arm 33. In the region of the rear wheel housing the flange 34 rests against andis fastened to a vertical part of the wheel housing. In the region ,of the door openings the outer side wall member H is provided. with an inwardly directed flange .35 which rests, by a narrow marginal upwardly directed flange 36 against flange 34 and is connected with .thesame as by spot welding. In the region of the A-posts, the arms 32 and 33 of the :floor stamping 29- overlap-the walls l8, l9 and 20 The front endof the flooring.

of the reinforcingmember .l1 and the lower margin of the inner side wall member 22..

The lower. margins of the side. wall members land their bottom flanges l6 form together with the reinforcing members I! and the lateral flanges '32, 33, of the flooring '29, substantially box section side sills extending from end to end of the combined body and chassis structure.

Adjacent the longitudinal central plane the sheet metal flooring 29 is provided with an upwardly offset member 31 forming a downwardly opening channel and housing the driving shaft 1 (not shown). This channel 31 is closed by a plate 38 throughout a part of its length. The channel 31 is continued in the toe-board region by a separate member 39 connected along its margins to the inner longitudinal margins of the two parts of the toe-board 30.

The flooring 29 is reinforced in longitudinal and transverse direction by members 40, 4| and 42 and by ribs 43 and 44. The-cross braces M and 42 form: the support for the rear seat cushion.

An especially strongand effective cross bracing is provided by the front seat support. This front seat support comprises, forward and rearward vertical walls 45 and 46 and a horizontal upper wall .41. These walls are connected with the flanges 32, 33 and 34 of the side sill members and with the channel shapemember 31. The vertical walls 45 and 46 are connected with the top wall and with the flooring 29. Hereby a box section cross brace is created which has a very great cross sectional area and a correspondingly great stiffness. The interior of this cross brace may be accessible to openings 48 so that the interior may serve for housing the storage battery or otherarticles as tools. So as to enlarge the interior of this hollow cross member, the flooring 2,9 is downwardly offset in the region between the two vertical transverse walls 45 and 46 as clearly to be seen from Figs. 1 and 6.

Behind the rear seat support 42, the region of the flooring 29 is upwardly offset at 4,9. Along the margins of this offset region 49, a lower stamping 50 is fastened as by welding. The stamping 50 forms an upwardly opening basin. The members 49 and .50 together form a closed container which may serve as .a fuel tank.

Many modifications of the invention may be possible, such modifications shall, however, be protected by the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a combined body underframe and chassi structure for a vehicle, a body side wall member extendingfrom the lower margin ofthe body upwardly beyond the threshold, a floor stamping extending over a part of the length -of the vehicle only, a hollow underframe side sill structure, at least one wall of said sill structure being formed by the lower marginal part of, said sidewall member, at least one other wall of said sill structure being formed in the region of said floor stamping by an integral .marginal part thereof whereas in a region of said ,sill structure which extends in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle beyond said floor stamping, said other wall of said sill structure is formed by a member made separately from said floor stamping.

2. In a combined body underframe and chassis structure for a vehicle, .a body side wall member extending from the lower margin of the body upwardly beyond the threshold, a floor stamping extending over a part of the length of the vehicle only, a hollow .underirame side .sill structure, at least one wall of said sill structure being formed by the lower marginal part of said side wall member, at least one other wall of said sill structure being formed in the region of said floor stamping by an integral marginal part thereof whereas in a region of said sill structure which extends in the longitudinal direction of the vehiclebeyond said floor stamping, said other wall of said sill structure is formed by a member made separately from said floor stamping, and being generally angle shaped in cross section.

3. In a combined body underframe and chassis structure fora vehicle, a body side wall member extending'from; the lower margin of the body upwardly beyond the threshold, a floor stamping extending over a part of the length of the vehicle only, a hollow underframe side sill structure, at least one wall of said sill structure being formed by the lower marginal part of said side wall member, at least one other wall of said sill structure being formed in the region of said floor stamping by an integral marginal part thereof whereas in a region of said sill structure which extends in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle beyond said floor stamping, said other wall of said sill structure is formed by a member made separately fromsaid floor stamping, said sill"wall integral with said floor stamping and said other sill wall formed by said separately made member overlapping each other a short distancebf the length of either of them.

4. In a combined body underframe and chassis structure for an automobile, ,a body side wall member extending from the lower margin of the body upwardly beyond the threshold, as floor stamping extending from about the cowl region rearwardly through the threshold ,regionf a hollow underframe side sill structure, at least one wall of said sill structure being formed by the lower marginal partof said sidewall member, at least one other wall of said sill structurebeing formed in the region of said floor "stamping by an integral marginal part thereof whereas'in the region of the vehicle extending from about the cowl region forwardly said other wall of said sill structure is formed by a member madeseparately from said floor stamping.'f v

5. In a combined. body underframe and chassis structure for an automobile, a body side Wall member extending from the lower margin of the body upwardly beyond the threshold, a 110.0 stamping extending from about the .cowl region through the threshold region and the rear wheel housing region to substantially the rear end of the car, a hollow underframe side sill structure,

at least one wall of said .sill. structure being formed by the. lower marginal part of .saidjside wall member, at least one other wall of said sill structure being formed in said threshold and rear wheel housing region by an integral mar ginal part thereof whereasin the region of the vehicle extending from about the cowl region forwardly said other wall of said sill structure is formed by a member made separately fromsaid floor stamping.

6. In a combined body and chassis structure, side sill structures along the lower longitudinal margins of the body structure, a sheet metal flooring in the passengers space, adownwardly opening box structureextending across the body, the lower transversely extending margins of which are fastened to the flooring and the lateral longitudinally extending margins to the side sill structure, said flooring being downwardly offset in the region of said box structure thereby providing a box sectional bracing of great cross sectional area and of corresponding strength and a storage chamber of great capacity.

JOSEPH LEDWINKA. 

